Chili Almond Asparagus

Chili Almond Asparagus

Sorry for the absence, I got pretty sick and needed to take some time off from… everything. Before asparagus season passes us by (it will be gone before you know it!), I thought I’d offer up this simple but flavorful and beautiful side dish.

There are lots of times where I’d like to make a little side dish, but I just don’t want to work too hard at it. Here’s a great recipe for just such an occasion. It’s fancy enough for company, but easy enough for everyday dinner. I first got the idea when I tossed some asparagus in a powdered faux-chicken soup stock and then roasted them. It gave the asparagus a lovely flavor, while helping the spears get golden brown and slightly crispy.

The bare-bones version of this recipe is just tossing the asparagus in oil, a little soup stock powder, and roasting until tender. This version here is the next-step, adding just a few ingredients for a lot more flavor.

Chili Almond Asparagus

Chili Almond Asparagus
Serves two to four as a side

1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds, roughly crushed and divided
1 Tbs Powdered Soup Stock (I used Bill’s Chik’nish Seasoning)
2 tsp Red Chili Flakes
1 lb Asparagus Spears, trimmed
2 Carrots, peeled
2 tsp Peanut Oil (or any kind you like)
1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil (or any other kind)
Fresh Zest and juice of 1 Lemon

Preheat oven to 450º F.

Roughly crush the almonds so that most are ground fairly fine, but there are some larger pieces of almonds left in the mix. Mix together 1/2 of the ground almonds, the soup stock powder, and the chili flakes.

Trim the carrots to the same length, roughly, as the asparagus spears. Half the carrots lengthwise, then quarter them, and continue cutting each piece lengthwise until you have lots of long, flexible, thin strips of carrots.

Asparagus and Carrots

In a large bowl, toss the carrots and the asparagus spears in the oils. Sprinkle the almond seasoning over the asparagus and carrots and toss well, making sure the coating sticks to the veggies.

Chili Almond Seasoning

Arrange the veggies in one layer on a parchment covered baking sheet. If there is any seasoning left in the bowl, scrape it onto the veggies.

Before roasting

Bake for about 5 minutes, or until the veggies are tender and starting to color. Finish under the broiler for a few minutes (watching it, it’ll burn easily) until brown and crispy in places.

Top with the remaining almond pieces, lemon zest, and season with a sprinkle of lemon juice if desired.

Chili Almond Asparagus

This is best served hot/warm. The asparagus should be cooked through and tender, but not mushy. It’s a perfect compliment to any spring dinner or lunch.

Chili Almond Asparagus

57 comments

  1. LSUDentalStudent

    I made this last night to bring to my grandparents house for dinner and I found that they were way too spicy for my new orleans tongue. When I make this again, because I will… Im just going to cut back on the red pepper flakes! Just a suggestion

  2. malavida

    Love the blog and most of the recipes here, but!
    It’s “chile” not “chili”…take it from the land of Tex and Mex.
    This particular misspelling drives me a bit nuts.

    Chili is a dish, usually made of beef down these parts (although there is an annual vegetarian chili cook-off in Austin) and chiles.

    A chile is, well, a chile, and if there are many, you have chiles.

    This looks delicious. Will have to try it sometime.

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  6. River

    Just found this today – half an hour before lunch – when I went googling for a change to my usual (very good btw) way of doing asparagus with chilies. This recipe had the things we love, but not all the ingredients we had in the pantry, we sadly discovered. Nevertheless, cashews stood in for almonds (just this once – must buy some more) and I had to do without the powdered soup stock (mine had unaccountably gone to an unappetizing rodk-hard [expletive] colour over the last few years. Go figure.). My dh is as thrilled as I am and so we are shopping this afternoon for what we need – including more asparagus – to make this winner again, next time as the author of it intended. It was stupendously exciting as we had it today; I can hardly think how much better it will be later this week when we make it again with everything as you have set out. Thanks so very much! Huge hugs.

  7. Rebecca

    Just made this. Fab!
    Added a little smoked salmon on the side for my carnivorous husband, but he loved the flavour of the dish so much he said he didn’t even need/want the salmon. Win!!!
    Thank you!

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